On February 20, 2025 at 13.30, in Aud. A. Daniele Pica will defend his PhD thesis supervised by Marta Orselli (University of Perugia) and Troels Harmark (NBI). The thesis defense will be in English.

Title: Black hole dynamics in tidal environments

Abstract: Black hole binary systems can form and evolve in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole, where their dynamics are dominated by strong gravitational effects. In this scenario, the point particle approximation, which has been widely used in the literature to analyse triple systems, breaks down, and a new approach is needed to properly account for relativistic effects. To this end, we introduce the tools required to study black hole triple systems in a strong gravity regime, showing how relativistic effects can significantly affect the dynamics of a black hole binary system, with a particular focus on EMRIs and secular dynamics.